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MR. WEBSTER'S SPEECH, 



IN THE 



U. S. SENATE, MARCH 23, 1848 3 



UPON THE 



WAR WITH MEXICO. 



BOSTON: 

1848. 
EASTBURN'S PRESS. 



IN EXGRA.MGI 

Bos. AtftOB 

Mar 28 06 



3 *] 



REMARKS. 



In SENATE, March 23, 1848. 

After the morning hour had expired, the galleries, lobbies 
and floor of the Senate Chamber being densely crowded, Mr. 
Webster addressed the President and the Senate as follows : 



Mr. President : 

On Friday a bill passed the Senate for raising ten regiments of new 
troops, for the further prosecution of the war against Mexico, and we have 
been informed that that measure is shortly to be followed, in this branch of 
the Legislature, by a bill to raise twenty regiments of volunteers for the same 
service. 

I was desirous of expressing my opinions against the object of these bills, 
against the supposed necessity which leads to their enactment, and against 
the general policy which they are apparently designed to promote. Cir- 
cumstances, personal to myself, but beyond my control, compelled me to 
forego, on that day, the execution of that design. 

The bill now before the Senate, is a measure for raising money, to meet 
the exigencies of the government and to provide the means, as well as for 
other things, for the pay and support of these thirty regiments. 

Sir, the scenes through which we have passed and are passing here, are 
various. For a fortnight, the world supposes, we have been occupied with 
the ratification of a treaty of peace : and that within these walls, 

" The world shut out," 

notes of peace and hopes of peace, nay, strong assurances of peace, as well as 
indications of peace, have been uttered to console and to cheer us. Sir, it has 
been over and over again stated, and is public, that we have ratified a treaty, — 
of course, a treaty of peace ; and, as the country has been led to suppose, not 
of an uncertain, empty and delusive peace ; but of real and substantial, a 
gratifying and an enduring peace, — a peace which should stanch the wounds 
of war, prevent the further flow of human blood, cut off these enormous ex- 
penses, and return our friends and our brothers, and our children, if they 
be yet living, from the land of slaughter, and the land of still more dismal 
destruction by climate, to our firesides and our arms. 

Hardly had these cheering and exhilirating notes ceased upon our ears, when, 



in resumed public session, we are summoned to fresh warlike operations, to 
create a new army of thirty thousand men, for the further prosecution of the war, 
to carry that war, in the language of the President, still more dreadfully into 
the vital parts of the enemy, and to press home, by fire and sword, the claims 
we make, the grounds which we insist upon, against our fallen, prostrate, I 
had almost said our ignoble enemy. 

• If I may judge from the opening speech of the honorable Senator from 
Michigan, and from other speeches that have been made upon this floor, there 
has been no time, from the commencement of the war, when it has been more 
urgently pressed upon us, not only to maintain, but to increase our military 
means ; not only to continue the war, but to press it still more vigorously than 
as yet has been done. 

Pray, what does all this mean ? Is it, I ask, confessed then, — is it con- 
fessed, that we are no nearer a peace than we were, when we snatched up 
that bit of paper called, or miscalled, a treaty, and ratified it ? Have we yet 
to fight it out to the utmost, as if nothing pacific had intervened ? 

I wish, sir, to treat the proceedings of this, and of every department of the 
government, with the utmost respect. God knows that the constitution of 
this government, and the exercise of its just powers in the administration 
of the laws under it, have been the cherished object of all my unimportant 
life. But, if the subject were not one too deeply interesting, I should say 
our proceedings here might Avell enough cause a smile. In the ordinary trans- 
action of the foreign relations of this, and of all other governments, the 
course has been to negotiate first, and to ratify afterwards. This seems to 
be the natural order of conducting intercourse between foreign States. We 
have chosen to reverse this order. We ratify first, and negotiate afterwards. 
We set up a treaty, such as we find it and choose to make it, and then send 
two Ministers Plenipotentiary to negotiate thereupon in the Capitol of the 
enemy. One would think, sir, the ordinary course of proceeding much the 
juster ; that to negotiate, to hold intercourse and come to some arrangement, 
by authorized agents, and then to submit that arrangement to the sovereign 
authority to which these agents are responsible, would be always the most 
desirable method of proceeding. It strikes me that the course we have adopt- 
ed is strange, is grotesque. So far as I know, it is unprecedented in the 
history of diplomatic intercourse. Learned gentlemen on the floor of the 
Senate, interested to defend and protect this course, may, in their extensive 
reading, have found examples of it. I know of none. 

Sir, we are in possession, by military power, of New Mexico and Califor- 
nia, countries belonging hitherto to the United States of Mexico. We are 
informed by the President that it is his purpose to retain them, to consider 
them as territory fit to be attached, and to be attached, to these United 
States of America. And our military operations and designs now before 
the Senate, are to enforce this claim of the Executive of the United States. 
We are to compel Mexico to agree, that the part of her dominion called 
New Mexico, and the other called California, shall be ceded to us ; that we 
are in possession, as is said, and that she shall yield her title to us. This 
is the precise object of this new army of 30,000 men. Sir, it is the identical 
object, in my judgment, for which the war was originally commenced, for 
which it has hitherto been prosecuted, and in furtherance of which this treaty 
is to be used, but as one means to bring about the general result, that 
general result depending, after all, on our own superior power, and on the 
necessity of submitting to any terms which we may prescribe to fallen, fallen, 
fallen Mexico! 

Sir, the members composing the other House, the more popular branch 



of the Legislature, have all been elected since, I had almost said, the fatal, 
I will say, the remarkable, events of the 11th and 13th days of May, 
1846. That other house has passed a resolution, affirming that " the war 
with Mexico was begun unconstitutionally and unnecessarily by the Execu- 
tive government of the United States." I concur in that sentiment; I hold 
that to be the most recent and authentic expression of the will and opinion 
of the majority of the people of the United States. 

There is, sir, another proposition, not so authentically announced hither- 
to, but, in my judgment, equally true, and equally capable of demonstration, 
and that is, that this war was begun, has been continued, and is now prose- 
cuted, for the great and leading purpose of the acquisition of new territory, 
out of which to bring in new States, with their Mexican population, into this 
our Union of the United States. 

If unavowed at first, this purpose did not remain unavowed long. How- 
ever often it may be said that we did not go to war for conquest — 

" Credat Judaeus Appella, 

Non ego," 

Does not every body see, that the moment we get possession of territory, we 
must retain it and make it our own ? Now I think that this original object has 
not been changed, has not been varied. Sir, I think it exists in the eyes of 
those who originally contemplated it, and who began the war for it, as 
plain, as attractive to them, and from which they no more avert their eyes 
now, than they did then, or have done at any time since. We have compelled 
a treaty of cession. We know in our consciences that it is compelled. We use 
it as an instrument and an agency, in conjunction with other instruments and 
other agencies of a more formidable and destructive character, to enforce the 
cession of Mexican territory, to acquire territory for new States, new States 
to be added to this Union. We know, every intelligent man knows, that 
there is no stronger desire in the breast of a Mexican citizen, than to retain 
the territory which belongs to the Republic. We know that the Mexican peo- 
ple will part with it, if part they must, with regret, with pangs of sor- 
row. That we know ; we know it is all forced ; and, therefore, because we 
know it must be forced, because we know, that whether the government, 
which Ave consider our creature, do or do not agree to it, we know that the 
Mexican people will never accede to the terms of this treaty but through 
the impulse of absolute necessity, and the impression made upon them by ir- 
resistible force, therefore we purpose to overwhelm them with another 
army. We purpose to raise another army of ten thousand regulars and 
twenty thousand volunteers, and to pour them in and upon the Mexican peo- 
ple. 

Now, sir, I should be happy to concur, notwithstanding all this tocsin, 
and all this cry of all the Semproniuses in the land, that their " voices are 
still for war," I should be happy to agree, and substantially I do agree, 
with the opinion of the Senator from South Carolina. I think I have my- 
self uttered the sentiment, within a fortnight, to the same effect, — that af- 
ter all, the war ioith Mexico is substantially over, — that there can be no 
more fighting. The war places us, at this moment, in an armed state, but 
not in a condition of daily battle. Now, in the present state of things, my 
opinion is, that the people of this country will not sustain the war, with a 
view of further conflicts and further subjugation. They will not submit to 
its heavy expenses, nor will they find any gratification in putting the bayonet 
to the throats of the Mexican people. 

For my part, I hope the Ten Regiment Rill will never become a law. 



Three weeks ago, 1 should have entertained that hope with the utmost confi- 
dence. Events instruct me to abate my confidence. I still hope it will not 
pass. 

And here I dare say I shall be called by some a " Mexican "Whig." The 
man who can stand up here and say, that he hopes that what the administra- 
tion projects, and the further prosecution of the war with Mexico requires, may 
not be carried into effect, must be an enemy to his country, or, what gentle- 
men have considered the same thing, an enemy to the President of the 
United States, and to his administration and his party. He is a Mexican. 
Sir, I think very badly of the Mexican character, high and low, out and out ; 
but names do not terrify me. Besides, if I have suffered or am to suffer 
in this respect, if I have rendered myself subject to the reproaches of 
these stipendiary presses, these hired abusers of the motives of public men, I 
have the honor on this occasion to be in very respecable company. In the 
vituperative, accusative, denunciatory sense of that term, I don't know a greater 
Mexican in this body, than the honorable Senator from Michigan, the Chair- 
man of the Committee on Military Affairs. 

Mr. Cass. — Will the gentleman be good enough to explain what sort of 
a Mexican I am? 

Mr. Webster. — That's exactly the thing, sir, that I now propose to do. 
On the resumption of the bill in the Senate the other day, the gentleman 
told us that its principal object was to frighten Mexico, it would touch his 
humanity too much to hurt her ! He would frighten her — 

Mr. Cass. — Does the gentleman affirm that I said that? 

Mr. Webster. — Yes, twice. 

Mr. Cass. — No sir, I beg your pardon, I did not say it. I did not say 
it would touch my humanity to hurt her. 

Mr. Webster. — Be it so — 

Mr. Cass. — Will the honorable Senator allow me to repeat my state- 
ment of the object of the bill ? I said it was two-f<3ld, — first, that it would 
enable us to prosecute the war if necessary, and second, that it would show 
Mexico we were prepared to do so ; and thus by its moral effect, would in- 
duce her to ratify the treaty. 

Mr. Webster. — The gentleman said that the principal object of the bill 
was to frighten Mexico ; and that this would be more humane than to 
harm her. 

Mr. Cass. — That's true. 

Mr. Webster. — It is true, is it? 

Mr. Cass. — Yes sir. 

Mr. Webster. — Very well — I thought as much. Now, sir, the re- 
markable characteristic of that speech, that which makes it so much a 
Mexican speech, is, that the gentleman spoke it in the hearing of Mexico, 
as well as in the hearing of the Senate. We are accused here, because 
what we say is heard by Mexico, and Mexico derives encouragement from 
what is said here. And yet the honorable member comes forth and tells 
Mexico, that the principal object of the bill is to frighten her ! His words 
have passed along the wires ; they are on the Gulf, and are floating away 
to Vera Cruz ; and when they get there, they will signify to Mexico that, 
" after all, ye good Mexicans, my principal object is to frighten you ; and to 
the end that you may not be frightened too much, I have given you this in- 
dication of my purpose." That's kind in him, certainly ! 

Mr. President, you remember that when Snug the joiner was to enact 
the lion, and rage and roar upon the stage, he was quite apprehensive that 
he might frighten the Duchess and the ladies too much, for " there is not," 



he was told, a " more fearful wild-fowl than your lion living," and " 'twere 
pity of his life, if he should terrify the ladies." And, therefore, by the ad- 
vice of his comrade, Mr. Nicholas Bottom, he wisely concluded that, in the 
height and fury of his effort qua lion, he would show one half his face from 
out the lion's neck, and himself speak through, saying plainly, these words, 
or ' to the same defect,' — " Ladies, or fair ladies, you think I come hither as 
a lion. I am no such thing ! I am a man as other men are ; — I'm only 
Snug, the joiner." (Great laughter.) 

But, sir, in any view of this case, in any view of the proper policy of this 
government, to be pursued according to any man's apprehension and judg- 
ment, where is the necessity for this augmentation, by regiments, of the mili- 
tary force of the country ? I hold in my hand a note, which I suppose 
to be substantially correct, of the present military force of the United 
States. I cannot answer for its entire accuracy, but I believe it to be 
substantially according to fact. We have twenty-five regiments of regular 
troops, of various arms. If full, they would amount to 28,960 rank and file, 
and including officers, to 30,296 men. These, with the exception of 600 or 
700 men, are now all out of the United States and in field service in Mexico, 
or en route to Mexico. But these regiments are not full. Casualties and 
the climate have sadly reduced their numbers. If the recruiting service were 
now to yield 10,000 men, it would not more than fill up these regiments, so 
that every Brigadier, and Colonel, and Captain should have his appropriate, 
his full command. Here is a call, then, on the country now for the enlist- 
men of ten thousand men, to complete the regiments in the foreign service 
of the United States. 

I understand, sir, that there is a report from Gen. Scott, — from Gen. 
Scott, a man who has performed the most brilliant campaign on recent 
military record, a man who has warred against the enemy, warred against 
the climate, warred against a thousand unpropitious circumstances, and has 
carried the flag of his country to the capitol of the enemy, honorably, 
proudly, humanely, to his own permanent honor, and the great military credit 
of the nation, — Gen. Scott! and where is he? At Puebla ! at Pueb- 
la ! undergoing an inquiry before his inferiors in rank, and other persons 
without military rank ; while the high powers he has exercised, and exercised 
with so much distinction, are transferred to another, I do not say to one 
unworthy of them, but to one inferior in rank, station and experience to him- 
self. 

But Gen. Scott reports, as I understand, that in February, there were 
twenty thousand regular troops under his command and en route, and we 
have thirty regiments of volunteers for the war. If full, this would 
make 34,000 men, or, including officers, 35,000 in the volunteer service. So, 
that, if the regiments were full, there would be at this moment a number of troops 
regular and volunteer, of not less than 55,000 or 60,000 men, including re- 
cruits on the way. And with these 20,000 men in the field, of regular troops, 
there were also 10,000 volunteers, making of regulars and volunteers under 
Gen. Scott, 30,000 men. The Senator from Michigan knows these things 
better than I do, but I believe this is very nearly the fact. Now, all these 
troops are regularly officered. There is no deficiency, in the line or in the 
staff, of officers. They are all full. Where there is any deficiency it consists 
of men. 

Now, sir, there may be a plausible reason for saying that there is diffi- 
culty in recruiting at home for the supply of deficiency in the volunteer reg- 
iments. It may be said, that volunteers choose to enlist under officers of 
their own knowledge and selection. They do not incline to enlist as indi- 



vidual volunteers, to join regiments abroad, under officers of whom they know 
nothing. There may be something in that. But, pray, what conclusion does 
it lead to, if not to this, that all these regiments must moulder away, by 
casualties or disease, until the privates are less in number than the officers 
themselves ? 

But, however it may be, with respect to volunteers, in regard to recruit- 
ing for the regular service, in filling up the regiments by pay and bounties 
according to existing laws, or new laws if new ones are necessary, there 
is no reason on earth why we should now create 500 new officers, for the 
purpose of getting 10,000 more men. The officers are already there, in 
that respect there is no deficiency. All that is wanted is men, and there is 
place for the men ; and I suppose no gentleman here or elsewhere thinks 
that recruiting will go on faster than would be necessary to fill up the defi- 
ciencies in the regiments abroad. 

But now, sir, what do we want of a greater force than we have in Mexico ? 
I am not saying what do we want of a force greater than we can supply ; but 
what is the object of bringing these new regiments into the field ? What do we 
propose? There is no army to fight. I suppose there are not 500 men under 
arms in any part of Mexico — probably not half that number, except in one 
place. Mexico is prostrate. It is not the government that resists us. Why, it 
is notorious that the government of Mexico is on our side : that it is an instru- 
ment, by which we hope to establish such a peace, and accomplish such a treaty 
as we like. As far as I understand the matter, the government of Mexico owes 
its life and breath and being to the support of our arms, and to the hope — I 
do not say how inspired — that some how or other and at no distant period, she 
will have the pecuniary means of carrying it on, from our three millions, or our 
twelve millions, or from some of our other millions. 

What do we propose to do, then, with these thirty regiments which it is de- 
signed to throw into Mexico ? Are we going to cut the throats of her people ? 
Are we to thrust the swoi'd deeper and deeper into the " vital parts " of Mex- 
ico? What is it proposed to do? Sir, I can see no object in it; and yet while 
we are pressed and urged to adopt this proposition to raise ten-and-twenty-regi- 
ments, we are told, and the public is told, and the public believes, that we are on 
the verge of a safe and honorable peace. Every one looks every morning for 
tidings of a confirmed peace, or of confirmed hopes of peace. We gather it 
from the administration, and from every organ of the administration, from Dan 
to Beersheba. And yet warlike preparations, the incurring of expenses, the im- 
position of new charges upon the Treasury, are pressed here, as if peace were 
not in all our thoughts, or, at least, not in any of our expectations. 

Now, sir, I propose to hold a plain talk to-day, and I say that, according to 
my best judgment, the object of the bill is patronage, office, the gratification of 
friends. This very measure for raising ten regiments, creates four or five 
hundred officers, colonels, subalterns, and not them only, for, for all these I 
feel some respect ; but there are also paymasters, contractors, persons engaged 
in the transportation service, commissaries, even down to sutlers, et id genus 
otnne, — people who handle the public money without facing the foe, — one and 
all of whom are true descendants, or if not, true representatives, of Ancient 
Pistol, who said he would 

" sutler he 
" Unto the camp, and profits will accrue." 

Sir, I hope, with no disrespect for the applicants, and the aspirants, and the 
patriots, (and among them are some sincere patriots) who would fight for their 
country, and those others who are not ready to fight, but who are willing to be 
paid, with no disrespect for any of them, according to their rank and station, 



9 

their degree and their merits, I hope they will all be disappointed. I hope 
that, as the pleasant season advances, the whole may find it for their interest to 
place themselves, of mild mornings, in the cars, and take their destination to their 
respective places of honorable private occupation, and of civil employment. 
They have my good wishes that they may find their homes, from the avenue and 
the capitol, and from the purlieus of the President's House, in good health them- 
selves, and that they may find their families all very happy to receive them. 
But, sir, 

" paulo majora canamus." 

This war was waged for the object of creating new States, on the southern 
frontier of the United States, out of Mexican territory, and with such popula- 
tion as should be found resident thereupon. 

I have opposed this object. I am against all accessions of territory to form new 
States. And this is no matter of sentimentality, which I am to parade before mass- 
meetings, or before my constituents at home, and not resist by vote. It is not a mat- 
ter with me of declamation, of regret, or of expressed repugnance. It is a matter 
of firm, unchangeable purpose. I yield nothing to the force of circumstances that 
have occurred, or that I can consider as likely to occur. And therefore I say 
sir, that if I were asked to-day whether, for the sake of peace, I will take a 
treaty for adding two new States to the Union on our southern border, I say no, 
distinctly, no. And I wish every man in the United States to understand 
that to be my judgment and my purpose. 

I said upon our Southern border, because the present proposition takes that 
locality. I would say the same of the west, the north-east or of any other bor- 
der. I resist to-day and forever, and to the end, any proposition to add any for- 
eign territory, South or West, North or East, to the States of this Union, as they 
are now constituted and held together under the constitution. I do not want the 
colonists of England on the north ; and as little do I want the population of Mexico 
on the south. I resist and reject all, and all with equal resolution. And, there- 
fore, I say that, if the question were put to me to-day, whether I would take 
peace under the present state of the countxy, distressed as it is, during the ex- 
istence of war, odious as this war is, under circumstances so afflictive to humanity, 
and so disturbing to the business of those whom I represent, as now exist, I 
say still, if it were put to me whether I would have peace, with new States, I 
would say no, — no ! And that because, sir, there is no necessity of being driven 
into that dilemma, in my judgment. Other gentlemen think differently. I hold 
no man's conscience ; but I mean to make a clean breast of it myself ; and I 
protest that I see no reason, I believe there is none, why we cannot obtain 
as safe a peace, as honorable and as prompt a peace, without territory as with 
it. The two things are separable. There is no necessary connection "be- 
tween them. Mexico does not wish us to take her territory, while she receives 
our money. Far from it. She yields her assent, if she yields it at all, reluct- 
antly, and we all know it. It is the result of force, and there is no man here 
who does not know that. And let me say, sir, that if this Trist paper shall 
finally be rejected in Mexico, it is most likely to be because those who under our 
protection hold the power there, cannot persuade the Mexican Congress or peo- 
ple to agree to this cession of territory. The thing most likely to break up 
what we now expect to take plaee, is the repugnance of the Mexican people to 
part with Mexican territory. They would prefer to keep their territory, and 
that we should keep our money ; as I prefer we should keep our money and 
they their territory. "We shall see. I pretend to no powers of prediction. I 
do not know what may happen. The times fire full of strange events. I think 
it certain that, if the treaty which has gone to Mexico shall fail to be ratified, it 



10 

will be because of the aversion of the Mexican Congress, or the Mexican people 
to cede the territory, or any part of it, belonging to their Republic. 

I have said that I would rather have no peace for the present, than to have a 
peace which brings territory for new States ; and the reason is that we shall get 
peace as soon without territory as with it ; more safe, more durable, and vastly 
more honorable to us, the great Republic of the World. 

But we hear gentlemen say we masi have some territory — the people de- 
mand it. I deny it, at least I see no proof of it whatever. I do not doubt 
there are individuals of an enterprising character, disposed to emigrate, who 
know nothing about New Mexico but that it is far off, and nothing about Cali- 
fornia but that it is still farther off, who are tired of the dull pursuits of agricul- 
ture and of civil life, that there are hundreds and thousands of such persons 
to whom whatsoever is new and distant is attractive. They feel the spirit of 
borderers ; and the spirit of a boi-derer, I take it, is to be tolerably contented 
with his condition where he is, until somebody goes to regions beyond him ; and 
then his eagerness is to take up his traps and go still farther than he who has 
thus got in advance of him. With such men, the desire to emigrate is an irre- 
sistible passion. At least, so said that great and sagacious observer of human 
nature, M. Talleyrand, when he travelled in this country in 1797. 

But I say I do not find any where any considerable and respectable body of 
persons who want more territory and such territory. Twenty-four of us last 
year in this house voted against the prosecution of the war for territory, because 
we did not want it — both southern and northern men. I believe the southern 
gentlemen who concurred in that vote found themselves, even when they had 
acted against what might be supposed to be local feelings and partialities, sus- 
tained on the general policy of not seeking territory, or, by the acquisition of ter- 
ritory, bringing into our politics certain embarrassing and embroiling questions 
and considerations. I do not learn that they suffered from the advocacy of such 
a sentiment. I believe they were supported in it ; and I believe that through 
the greater part of the south, and even of the south-west, to a great extent, there 
is no prevalent opinion in favor of acquiring territory, and such territory, and of 
the augmentation of our population, and by such population. And such, I need 
not say is, if not the undivided, the preponderating sentiment of all the north. 

But it is said we must take territory for the sake of peace. We must take 
territory! It is the will of the President. If we do not now take what he 
offers, we may fare worse. Mr. Polk will take no less ; that, he is fixed upon : 
he is immovable : he has — put — down — his — foot ! Well, sir, he put it down 
on 54 40 : but it didn't stay. I speak of the President, as of all Presidents, with 
no disrespect. But I know of no reason why his opinion and his will, his pur- 
pose declared to be final, should control us, any more than our purpose, formed 
from squally conscientious motives and under as high responsibilities, should con- 
trol him. We think he is firm and will not be moved. I should be sorry, sir, 
very sorry indeed, that we should entertain more respect for the firmness of the 
individual at the head of the government, than we may entertain for our own 
firmness. He stands out against us : — Do we fear to stand out against him? 
For one, I do not. It appears to me to be a slavish doctrine. For one I am 
willing to meet the issue, and go to the people all over this broad land. Shall 
we take peace without new states, or refuse peace without new states ? I will 
stand upon that and trust the people. And I do that because I think it right, 
and because I have no distrust of the people. I am not unwilling to put it to 
their sovereign decision and arbitration. I hold this to be a question vital, per- 
manent, elementary in the future prosperity of the country and the maintenance 
of the Constitution : and I am willing to trust that question to the people : and 
I prefer it, because if what I take to be a great Constitutional principle, or what 



11 

is essential to its maintenance, is to be broken down, let it be the act of the peo- 
ple themselves : it shall never be my act. I do not distrust the people I 
am willing to take their sentiment from the Gulf to the British Provinces and 
from the Ocean to the Missouri : Will you continue the war for territory to 
be purchased, after all, at an enormous price, a price a thousand times the value 
of all its purchases ; or take peace, contenting yourselves with the honor we 
have reaped by the military achievements of the army : will you take peace 
without territory, and preserve the integrity of the Constitution of the Country' 
1 am entirely willing to stand upon that question. I will therefore take the 
issue : Peace, with no new states, keeping our money ourselves : or War till 
new states shall be acquired, and vast sums paid. That's the true issue I am 
willing to leave that before the people and to the people, because it is a question 
for themselves. If they support me and think with me, very well. If other- 
wise, if they will have territory, and add new states to the Union, let them 
qo so ; and, let them be the artificers of their own fortune, for good or for evil 

But, sir we tremble before Executive power. The truth cannot be concealed. 
We tremble before Executive power ! Mr. Polk will take no less than this ' If 
we do not take this, the King's anger may kindle, and he will give us what is 
worse. ° 

But now, sir, who and what is Mr. Polk ? I speak of him with no manner 
of disrespect. I mean, thereby, only to ask who and what is the President of 
the United States, for the current moment. He is in the last year of his admin- 
istration. Formally, officially, it can only be drawn out till the 4th of March 
next, while really and substantially, we know that two short months, will or 
may, produce events that will render the duration of that official term of very 
little importance. We are on the eve of a Presidential election. That machine 
which is resorted to to collect public opinion, or party opinion, will be put in one- 
ration two months hence. We shall see its result. It may be that the present 
incumbent of the Presidential office will be a-ain presented, to his party friends 
and admirers, for their suffrages for the nextf Presidential term. I do not sav 
how probable or improbable this is. Perhaps it is not entirely probable Sun 
pose this not to be the result; what then? Why, then, Mr. Polk becomes as 
absolutely insignificant as any respectable man among the public men of the 
United States. Honored in private life, valued for his private character re- 
spectable, never eminent, in public life, he will, from the moment a new star 
arises have just as little influence as you, or I ; and so far as myself am con- 
cerned that certainly is little enough. J 

Th? r 'do not Cal PartiSanS and as P irants and office-seekers, are not sunflowers. 

" turn to their God when he sets, 

The same look which they turned when he rose." 

No, sir, if the respectable gentleman now at the head of the government be 
agreed upon, there will be those who will commend his consistency, who will 
be bound to maintain it, for the interest of his party-friends will require it. 
It will be done. If otherwise, who is there in the whole breadth and length 
<r % ai Z ll \ Care f ° r the consisten <-y of the present incumbent of the 

office i Ihere will then be new objects. < Manifest destiny ' will have pointed 
out some other man. Sir, the eulogies are now written, the commendations 
of praise are already elaborated. I do not say everything fulsome, but everv- 
thing panegyrical, has already been written out, with blanks for names, to be 
filled when the Convention shall adjourn. When 'manifest destiny' shall be 
unrolled, all these strong panegyrics, wherever they may light, made before- 
hand, laid up in pigeon-holes, studied, framed, emblazoned and embossed, shall 
all come out, and then there will be found to be somebody in the United States 



12 

whose merits have been strangely overlooked, marked out by Providence, a 
kind of miracle, while all will wonder that nobody ever thought of him before, 
as a fit and the only fit man to be at the head of this great Republic ! 

I shrink not, therefore, from any thing that I feel to be my duty, on account 
of any apprehension of the importance and imposing dignity, and power of will, 
ascribed to the present incumbent of that office. But I wish we possessed that 
power of will. I wish we had that firmness — firmness. Firmness, 

"Si sit, — nullum numen absit." 

Yes, sir, I wish we had adherence. I wish we could gather something from 
the spirit of our brave corps, who have met the enemy under circumstances most 
adverse, and have stood the shock. I wish we could imitate Zachary Taylor in 
his bivouac on the field of Buena Vista. He said he " would remain for the 
night; he would feel the enemy in the morning and try his position." I wish, 
before we surrender, we could make up our minds to "feel the enemy and try 
his position," and I think we should find him, as Taylor did, under the early 
sun, on his way to San Louis Potosi. That's my judgment. 

But, sir, I come to the all-absorbing question, more particularly, of the cre- 
ation of new States. 

When I came into the counsels of the country, Louisiana had been obtained 
under the treaty with Prance. Shortly after, Florida was obtained under 
the treaty with Spain. These two countries, we know, of course, lay on our 
frontier, and commanded the outlets of the great rivers which flow into the gulf. 
As I have had occcasion more than once to say, in the first of these instances 
the President of the United States (Mr. Jefferson) supposed that an amend- 
ment of the Constitution was required. He acted upon that supposition. Mr. 
Madison was Secretary of State, and, upon the suggestion of Mr. Jefferson, pro- 
posed that the proper amendment to the Constitution should be submitted to bring 
Louisiana into the Union. Mr. Madison drew it and submitted it to Mr. Adams, 
as I have understood. Mr. Madison did not go upon any general idea that new 
States might be admitted. He did not suggest a general amendment of the Con- 
stitution in that respect. But the amendment of the Constitution which he propos- 
ed and submitted to Mr. Adams, was a simple declaration by a new article, that 
" The province of Louisiana is hereby declared to be part and parcel of the United 
States." Public opinion, seeing the great importance of the acquisition, took a 
turn favorable to the affirmation of the power. The act was acquiesced in, and 
Louisiana became a part of the Union, without any alteration of the Constitution. 
On the example of Louisiana, Florida was admitted. 

Now, sir, I consider those transactions as passed, settled, legalized. There 
they stand, as matters of political history. They are facts against which it 
would be idle at this day to contend. 

My first agency in these matters was upon the proposition for admitting 
Texas into this Union. That I thought it my duty to oppose, upon the general 
ground of opposing all annexation of new States out of foreign territory ; and, 
I may add, and I ought to add in justice, of States in which slaves were to be 
represented in the Congress of the United States, on the ground of its inequal- 
ity. It happened to me, sir, to be called upon to address a political meeting in 
New York in 1837 or '38, after the recognition of Texan Independence. I 
state now, sir, what I have often stated before, that no man from the first, has 
been a more sincere well-wisher to the government and the people of Texas, 
than myself. I looked upon the achievement of their independence in the bat- 
tle of San Jacinto, as an extraordinary, almost a marvellous, incident in the af- 
fairs of mankind. I was among the first disposed to acknowledge her independ- 
ence. But from the first, down to this moment, I opposed, as far as I was able, 



13 

the annexation of new States to this Union. I stated my reasons on the occa- 
sion now referred to, in language which I have now before me and which I 
beg to present to the Senate : 

" It cannot be disguised, gentlemen, that a desire or intention is already man- 
ifested to annex Texas to the United States. On a subject of such mighty mag- 
nitude as this, and at a moment when public attention is drawn to it, I should 
feel myself wanting in candor, if I did not express my opinion ; since all must 
suppose that on such a question, it is impossible I should be without some opinion. 

" I say then, gentlemen, in all frankness, that I see objections, I think insur- 
mountable objections, to the annexation of Texas to the United States. When 
the Constitution was formed, it is not probable that either its framers or the peo- 
ple ever looked to the admission of any States into the Union, except such as 
then already existed, and such as should be formed out of territories then al- 
ready belonging to the United States. Fifteen years after the adoption of the 
Constitution, however, the case of Louisiana arose. Louisiana was obtained by 
treaty with France ; who had recently obtak 3d it from Spain; but the object 
of this acquisition, certainly, was not mere extension ot territory ; other great 
political interests were connected with it. Spain, while she possessed Louisiana, 
had held the mouths of the great rivers which rise in the Western States and 
flow into the Gulf of Mexico. She had disputed our use of these rivers al- 
ready, and with a powerful nation in possession of these outlets to the sea, it is 
obvious that the commerce of all the West was in danger of perpetual vexation. 
The command of these rivers to the sea was, therefore, the great object aimed 
at in the acquisition of Louisiana. But that acquisition naturally brought terri- 
tory along with it, and three States now exist, formed out of that ancient pro* 
vince. 

" A similar policy and a similar necessity, though perhaps not entirely so ur* 
gent, led to the acquisition of Florida. 

" Now, no such necessity, no such policy, requires the annexation of Texas. 
The accession of Texas to our territory is not necessary to the full and com- 
plete enjoyment of all which we already possess. Her case, therefore, stands 
entirely different from that of Louisiana and Florida. There being, then, no 
necessity for extending the limits of the Union, in that direction, we ought, I 
think, for numerous and powerful reasons, to be content with our present bound- 
aries. 

" Gentlemen, we all see, that by whomsoever possessed, Texas is likely to be 
a slaveholding country, and I frankly avow my entire unwillingness to do any- 
thing which shall extend the slavery of the African race on this Continent, or 
add other slaveholding States to the Union. When I say that I regard slavery 
in itself as a great moral, social, and political evil, I only use language which 
has been adopted by distinguished men, themselves citizens of slaveholding 
States. I shall do nothing, therefore, to favor or encourage its further exten- 
sion. We have slavery already amongst us. The Constitution found it among 
us ; it recognised it, and gave it solemn guaranties. To the full extent of these 
guaranties we are all bound, in honor, in justice, and by the Constitution. All 
the stipulations contained in the Constitution, in favor of the slaveholding States 
which are already in the Union, ought to be fulfilled, in the fullness of their 
spirit, and to the exactness of their letter. Slavery, as it exists in the States, is 
beyond the reach of Congress. It is a concern of the States themselves ; they 
have never submitted it to Congress, and Congress has no rightful power over 
it. I shall concur, therefore, in no act, no measure, no menace, no indication of 
purpose, which shall interfere, or threaten to interfere, with the exclusive au- 
thority of the several States over the subject of slavery as it exists within their 



14 

respective limits. All this appears to me to be matter of plain and imperative 
duty. 

" But when we come to speak of admitting new States, the subject assumes 
an entirely different aspect. Our rights and our duties are then both different. 

" The free States, and all the States, are then at liberty to accept or reject. 
When it is proposed to bring new members into this political partnership, the 
old members have a right to say on what terms such new partners are to come 
in, and what they are to bring along with them. In my opinion, the people of 
the United States will not consent to bring a new, vastly extensive and slave- 
holding country, large enough for half a dozen or dozen States, into the Union. 
In my opinion they ought not to consent to it. Indeed, I am altogether at a 
loss to conceive what possible benefit any part of this country can expect to de- 
rive from such annexation ; all benefit to any part is at least doubtful and un- 
certain ; the objections obvious, plain, and strong. On the general question of 
slavery, a great portion of the community is already strongly excited. The 
subject has not only attracted attention as a question of politics, but it has 
struck a far deeper toned chord. It has arrested the religious feeling of the 
country ; it has taken strong hold on the consciences of men. He is a rash 
man, indeed, and little conversant with human nature, and especially has he 
a very erroneous estimate of the character of the people of this country, who 
supposes that a feeling of this kind is to be trifled with or despised. It will 
assuredly cause itself to be respected. It may be reasoned with, it may be 
made willing, I believe it is entirely willing, to fulfil all existing engagements, 
and all existing duties, to uphold and defend the Constitution, as it is establish- 
ed, with whatever regrets about some provisions which it does actually con- 
tain. But to coerce it into silence — to endeavor to restrain its free expression 
— to seek to compress and confine it, warm as it is, and more heated as such 
endeavors would inevitably render it, should all this be attempted, I know no- 
thing, even in the Constitution, or the Union itself, which would not be en- 
dangered by the explosion which might follow. 

" I see, therefore, no political necessity for the annexation of Texas to the 
Union ; no advantages to be derived from it ; and objections to it, of a strong, 
and in my judgment, decisive character. 

" I believe it to be for the interest and happiness of the whole Union to re- 
main as it is, without dimunition and without addition." 

Well, sir, for a few years I held a position in the Executive administration of 
the government. I left the Department of State in 1843, in the month of May. 
Within a month after another, an intelligent gentleman, for whom I cherished 
a high respect, and who came to a sad and untimely end, had taken my place, I 
had occasion to know — not officially, but from circumstances — that the An- 
nexation of Texas was taken up by Mr. Tyler's Administration, as an Admin- 
istration measure. It was pushed, pressed, insisted on ; and I believe the hon- 
orable gentleman to whom I have referred (Mr. Upshur) had something like a 
passion for the accomplishment of this purpose. And I am afraid that the Pre- 
sident of the United States at that time suffered his ardent feelings not a little 
to control his more prudent judgment. At any rate, I saw, in 1843, that An- 
nexation had become a, purpose of the Administration. I was not in Congress 
nor in public life. But seeing this state of things, I thought it my duty to ad- 
monish, so far as I could, the country of the existence of that purpose. There 
are gentlemen, many of them at the North, there are gentlemen now in the capi- 
tol, who know, that in the summer of 1843, being fully persuaded that this pur- 
pose was embraced with zeal and determination by the Executive Department 
of the Government of the United States, I thought it my duty, and asked them 
to concur with me in the attempt, to let that purpose be known to the country. 



15 

I conferred with gentlemen of distinction and eminence. I proposed means of 
exciting public attention to the question of Annexation, before it should have 
become a party question ; for I had learned that when any topic becomes a party 
question, it is in vain to argue upon it. 

But the optimists, and the quietists, and those who said all things are well, 
and let all things alone, discouraged, discountenanced and repressed any such 
effort. The North, they said, could take care of itself; the country could take 
care of itself, and would not sustain Mr. Tyler in his project of Annexation. 
When the time should come, they said, the power of the North would be felt, 
and would be found sufficient to resist and prevent the consummation of the 
measure. And I could now refer to paragraphs and articles in the most respec- 
table and leading journals of the North, in which it was attempted to produce 
the impression that there was no danger, there could be no addition of new 
States, and men need not alarm themselves about that. 

I was not in Congress, sir, when the preliminary resolutions, providing for 
annexing Texas, passed. I only know that, up to a very short period before 
the passage of those resolutions, the impression in that part of the country of 
which I have spoken, was that no such measure could be adopted. But I have 
found in the course of thirty years' experience, that whatever measures the 
Executive Government may embrace and push, are quite likely to succeed in 
the end. There is always a giving to ay, somewhere. The Executive Govern- 
ment acts with uniformity, with steadiness, with entire unity of purpose. And 
sooner or later, often enough, and according to my construction of our history, 
quite too often, it effects its purposes. In this way it becomes the predomina- 
ting power of the Government. 

Well, sir, just before the commencement of the present Administration, the 
resolutions for the Annexation of Texas were passed in Congress. Texas com- 
plied with the provisions of those resolutions, and was here, or the case was 
here, on the 22d day of December, 1845, for her final admission into the Union, 
as one of the States. I took occasion then to say : 

" Mr. President, there is no citizen of this country who was more kindly dis- 
posed towards the people of Texas than myself, from the time they achieved, in 
so very extraordinary a manner, their independence from the Mexican Govern- 
ment. I have shown, I hope, in another place, and shall show in all situations, 
and under all circumstances, a just and proper regard for the people of that 
country ; but, with respect to its annexation to this Union, it is well known that, 
from the first announcement of any such idea, I have felt it my duty steadily, 
uniformly, and zealously to oppose it. I have expressed opinions and urged ar- 
guments against it, every where, and on all occasions on which the subject came 
under consideration. I could not now, if I were to go over the whole topic 
again, adduce any new views, or support old views as far as I am aware, by any 
new arguments or illustrations. My efforts have been constant and unwearied ; 
but, like those of others, they have failed of success. I will, therefore, sir, in 
very few words, acting under the unanimous resolution and instructions of both 
branches of the Legislature of Massachusetts, as well as in conformity to my 
own settled judgment and full conviction, recapitulate before the Senate and be- 
fore the community, the objections which have prevailed, and must always pre- 
vail, with me against this measure of annexation. In the first place, I have, on 
the deepest reflection, long ago come to the conclusion, that it was of very dan- 
gerous tendency and doubtful consequences, to enlarge the boundaries of this 
Government or the territories over which our laws are now established. There 
must be some limit to the extent of our territory, if we would make our institu- 
tions permanent. And in this permanency lives the great subject of all my 
political efforts, the paramount object of my political regard. The Government 



16 

is very likely to be endangered, in my opinion, by a further enlargement of its 
already vast territorial survey. 

" In the next place, I have always wished that this country should exhibit to 
the nations of the earth the example of a great, rich, and powerful republic, 
which is not possessed by a spirit of aggrandizement. It is an example, I think, 
due from us to the world, in favor of the character of republican government. 

" In the third place, sir, I have to say, that while I hold, with as much in- 
tegrity, I trust, and faithfulness as any citizen of this country, to all the original 
arrangements and compromises in which the Constitution under which we now 
live was adopted, I never could, and never can, persuade myself to be in favor 
of the admission of other States into the Union, as slave States, with the 
inequalities which were allowed and accorded to the slaveholding States then in 
existence, by the Constitution. I do not think that the free States ever expect- 
ed, or could expect, that they would be called on to admit further slave States 
having the advantages, the unequal advantages, arising to them from the mode 
of apportioning representation under the existing Constitution. 

" Sir, I have never made an effort, and never propose to make an effort ; I 
have never countenanced an effort, and never mean to countenance an effort, to 
disturb the arrangements as originally made, by which the various States came 
into the Union ; but I cannot avoid considering it quite a different question 
when a proposition is made to admit new States, and that they be allowed to 
come in with the same advantages and inequalities which existed in regard to 
the old." 

Now, sir, as I have said, in all this I acted under resolutions of the State of Mas- 
sachusetts, certainly concurring with my own judgment, so often repeated and 
reaffirmed by the unanimous consent of all men of all parties, that I could not 
well go through the series, declaring not only the impolicy, but the unconstitu- 
tionality of such annexation. And the case presented is this : — if a State pro- 
posed to come in, comes in as a slave State, it increases that ineqtiality in the con- 
dition of the people which already exists, and which, so far as it exists, I would 
never attempt to alter, which I would preserve by my vote and by whatever in- 
fluence I might possess. Since it was a part of the original compact, let it stand, 
but I will not consent to augment, or extend that inequality. But there is 
another consideration of vastly more general importance even than that, more 
general, because it affects all the States, free and slaveholding ; and that is, if 
the States, formed out of territory thus thinly peopled, come in, they necessarily, 
inevitably, break up the relation existing between the two branches of the Legis- 
lature and destroy its balance. They break up the constitutional relation be- 
tween the Senate and House of Representatives. If you bring in new States, 
every State that comes in must have two Senators, while it may have fifty 
thousand or sixty thousand people and no more. You will thus have several 
States which shall have more Senators than Representatives. Can any thing 
occur to disfigure and derange the frame of government under which we live 
more than that? Here will be a Senate bearing no proportion to the people, 
out of all relation, a Senate formed by the addition of new States which may 
have only one representative while it has two Senators, while others have ten, 
fifteen, thirty Representatives, and but two Senators. A Senate added to, aug- 
mented by these new Senators from States where there are few people, becomes 
an odious oligarchy. It holds power without adequate constituency. Sir, it 
is but borovghmongering on a large scale. 

Now, sir, I do not depend on theory. I ask you, and I ask the Senate, and 
the country, to look at facts, to see where we were when we made the departure 
three years ago, and where we now are ; and I shall leave it to imagination to 
conjecture where we soon shall be. 

We admitted Texas as one State for the present. But if you will refer to 



1.7 

the resolutions providing for the annexation of Texas, you will find a provision 
that it shall be in the power of Congress hereafter to make four other new- 
States out of Texan territory. Present and prospectively, therefore, five new 
States, sending ten Senators, may come into the Union out of Texas. Three 
years ago we did that. Now we propose to make two States more : for un- 
doubtedly if we take what the President recommends, New Mexico and Califor- 
nia, each will make a State, — so that there will be four Senators. We shall 
have then, in this new territory, seven States sending fourteen Senators to this 
Chamber. Now what will be the relation between the Senate and the people, 
or the States from which they come ? 

I do not understand that there is any accurate census of Texas. It is gener- 
allv supposed to contain 150,000 persons. I doubt whether it is over 100,000. 
(Mr. Mangum said ' 149,000.') Well, call it 150,000. Well, sir, Texas is not 
destined to he a country of dense population. Suppose it to have 150,000 people. 
By the best accounts, and I have gone over all I could find, New Mexico may 
have 60 or 70,000 inhabitants, such as they are — say 70,000. In California it 
is supposed there are but 25,000 now ; but undoubtedly if it become ours, per- 
sons originally from the Western country will emigrate to the neighborhood of 
San Francisco, where there is some good land and some interesting country, 
and they may reach GO or 70,000. Put them down for 70,000. We have then 
in the whole territory, upon this estimate, which is as large as any man puts it, 
290,000 people ; and they may send us, whenever we ^ask for them, fourteen 
Senators. Less than the population of Vermont, and irot one eighth part that 
of New York ! Fourteen Senators and no more people than Vermont ! no 
more people than New Hampshire, and not so many as the good State of New 
Jersey ! But, then, Texas claims to the line of the Rio Grande, and to run along 
that river ; and if that be her true line, then of course she absorbs a consider- 
able, the greater part, of that which is now called New Mexico. I shall not argue 
the question of the true south or western line of Texas. I will only say, what 
must he apparent to every body who will look at the map, and learn any thing 
of the matter, that New Mexico cannot be divided by the Rio Grande, a shal- 
low, fordable river, creeping along a narrow valley, at the base of enormous 
mountains. New Mexico must remain together, and be a State, with 60,000 
people, and so it will be, and so will be California. 

Suppose Texas to remain a unit for the present, let it be one State for the 
present, still we shall have three States, Texas, New Mexico and California : 
and we shall have then six Senators for less than 300,000 people. We shall 
have as many for those 300,000 whom they will represent, as for New York, 
Pennsylvania and Ohio, with their four or five millions of people: and that's 
what you call equal government ! Is not this enormous ? Have gentlemen con- 
sidered it — have they looked at it ? Are they willing to look it in the face and 
then say they embrace it ? I trust in God that the people will look at it, con- 
sider it and reject it. 

And now let me add that this disproportion can never be diminished. It must 
remain forever. How will you go to work to diminish it? Texas with her 
150,000 people, forms one State. Suppose population to How in ; where will 
it go ? not to the densely settled portions, but it will spread over the whole region ; 
it will go to places remote from the Gulf, — to places remote from the present 
capital of Texas ; and, therefore, so soon as there are in the north part of Texas 
people enough to satisfy the conditions of the constitution of the United States, or 
rather the practice of Congress, for the formation of new States, a new State 
may be formed ; and then we shall have another new State made. I do not 
doubt, it is all chalked out now. 

Then, as to New Mexico, there can be no more people there than there are 

2+ 



18 

now. The man is ignorant, stupid, who can look upon the map and see what 
that country is, and suppose that it can have more people than it has now, some 
sixty or seventy thousand. It is an old settled country, the people living 
along the bottom of the valley, upon the two sides of the garter which stretches 
through it, and is full only of land holders and miserable peons : and it can 
sustain, not only under their cultivation but under any cultivation to which the 
American race will submit, no more people than are there now. And two Sen- 
ators will come from New Mexico with its present population to the end of our 
lives and those of our children. 

And now how is it with California ? "We propose to take California from the 
47th degree of north latitude to the 32d. We propose to take ten degrees 
along the coast of the Pacific. All along the coast for that great distance are 
settlements and villages and ports : and back, all is wilderness and barrenness 
and Indian country. But if, just about St. Francisco and perhaps Monterey, 
emigrants enough should settle to make up one State, then the people 500 miles 
off would have another State. And so this disproportion of the Senate to the 
people will go on and must go on, and we cannot prevent it. 

I say, sir, that according to my conscientious conviction we are now fixing on 
the constitution of the United States and its frame of government, a monstrosity, 
a disfiguration, an enormity ! Sir, I hardly dare trust myself. I don't know 
but I may be under some delusion. I don't know but my head is turned. It 
may be the weakness o£ mine eyes that forms this monstrous apparition ! But 
if I may trust myself, if I may persuade myself that I am in my right mind, 
then it does appear to me that we, in this Senate, have been, and are acting, 
and are likely to be acting hereafter, and immediately, a part which will form 
the most remarkable epoch in the history of our country. 

I hold it to be enormous, — flagrant ; an outrage upon all the principles of 
popular Republican government, and on the elementary provisions of the con- 
stitution under which we live, and which we have sworn to support. 

But then, sir, what relieves the case from this enormity ? What is our reli- 
ance ? Why, it is that Ave stipulate that these new States shall only be brought 
in, at a suitable time. And pray, what is to constitute the suitableness of time ? 
"Who is to judge of it? I tell you, sir, that that suitable time will come when 
the preponderance of "party poioer here, makes it necessary to bring in new 
States ! Be assured it will be a suitable time when votes are wanted in this 
Senate. "We have had some little experience of that. Texas came in at a ' suit- 
able time' — a very suitable time ! Texas was finally admitted in December 

1845. My friend near me here, for whom I have a great regard, whose ac- 
quaintance I have cultivated with pleasure, (Mr. Rusk,) took his seat in March, 

1846, with his colleague. In July 1846, these two Texan votes turned the 
balance in the Senate, and overthrew the Tariff of 1842, in my judgment the 
best system of revenue ever established in this country. 

Gentlemen on the opposite side, think otherwise. They think it fortunate. 
They think that was a suitable time, and they mean to take care that other times 
shall be equally suitable. I understand it perfectly well. That's the difference 
of opinion between me and these honorable gentlemen. To their policy, their 
objects and their purposes, the time was suitable, and the aid was efficient and 
decisive. 

Sir, in 1850 perhaps a similar question may be agitated here. It is not likely 
to be before that time, but agitated it will be then, unless a change in the admin- 
istration of the government shall take place. According to my apprehension, 
looking at general results, as flowing from our established system of Commerce 
and Revenue, at about 1850, in two years from this, we shall probably be en- 
gaged in a new revision of our system : in the work of establishing, if we can, 
a Tariff of specific duties, — of protecting, if we can, our domestic industry and 



19 

the manufactures of the country, in the work of preventing, if we can, the 
overwhelming flood of foreign importations. Suppose that to be part of the 
future : that would be exactly the ' suitable time,' if necessary, for two Sena- 
tors from New Mexico to make their appearance here. 

But, again, we hear other lulling and soothing tones, which quiet none of my 
alarms, assuage none of my apprehensions — commend me to my nightly rest 
with no more resignation. And that is the plea, that we may trust the popular 
branch of the Legislature, we may look to the House of Representatives, to 
the Northern and Middle States, and even the sound men of the South, and 
trust them to take care that new States be not admitted sooner than they should 
be, or for party purposes. I am compelled by experience, to distrust all such 
reliances. If we cannot rely on ourselves, when we have the clear constitu- 
tional authority competent to carry us through, and motives intensely powerful, 
I beg to know how we can rely on others ? Have we more reliance on the 
patriotism, the firmness of others, than on our own ? 

Besides, experience shows us that things of this sort may be sprung upon 
Congress and the people. It was so in the case of Texas. It was so in the 
Twenty-eighth Congress. The members of that Congress were not chosen to 
decide the question of Annexation or no Annexation. They came in on other 
grounds, political and party, and were supported for reasons not connected with 
that question. What then ? The Administration sprung upon them the ques- 
tion of Annexation. It obtained a snap judgment upon it, and carried the meas- 
ure of Annexation. That is indubitable, as I could show by many instances, of 
which I shall state only one. 

Four gentlemen from the State of Connecticut were elected before the ques- 
tion arose, belonging to the dominant party. They had not been here long be- 
fore they were committed to Annexation ; and when it was known in Connec- 
ticut that Annexation was in contemplation, remonstrances, private, public and 
legislative, were uttered in tones that any one could hear who could hear thun- 
der. Did these move those members ? Not at all. Every one of them voted 
for Annexation ! The election came on, and they were all turned out to a man. 
But what did those care for that, who had had the benefit of their votes ? Such 
agencies, if it be not more proper to call them such instrumentalities, retain res- 
pect no longer than they continue to be useful. 

Sir, we take New Mexico and California ; who is weak enough to suppose 
that there's an end ? Don't we hear it avowed every day, that it would be proper 
also to take Sonora, Tamaulipas and other provinces and States of Northern 
Mexico? Who thinks that the hunger for dominion will stop here of itself ? 
It is said, to be sure, that our present acquisitions will prove so lean and unsat- 
isfactory, that we shall seek no further. In my judgment, we may as well say 
of a rapacious animal, that if he has made one unproductive hunt, he will not 
try for a better foray. 

But farther. There are some things one can argue against with temper, and 
submit to, if overruled, without mortification. There are other things that seem 
to affect one's consciousness of being a sensible man, and to imply a disposition 
to impose upon his common sense. And of this class of topics, or pretences, I 
have never heard of any thing, and I cannot conceive of any thing, more ridic- 
ulous in itself, more absurd, and more affrontive to all sober judgment, than the 
cry that we are getting indemnity, indemnity, by the acquisition of New Mex- 
ico and California. I hold they are not worth a dollar : and we pay for them 
vast sums of money ! We have expended, as every body knows, large treas- 
ures in the prosecution of the war ; and now what is to constitute this indem- 
nity ? What do gentlemen mean by it ? Now, sir, let us see how this stands. 
We get a country. We get, in the first instance, a cession, or an acknowledg- 



20 

ment of boundary, (I care not which way you state it,) of the country between 
the Nueces and the Eio Grande. What this country is, appears from a publi- 
cation made by a gentlemen in the other House, (Major Gaines.) He say9 
the whole country is worth nothing. 

" The country from the Nueces to the valley of the Rio Grande is poor, ster- 
ile, sandy, and barren — with not a single tree of any size or value on our whole 
route. The only tree which we saw, was the musquit tree, and very few of 
these. The musquit is a small tree, resembling an old and decayed peach tree. 
The whole country may be truly called a perfect waste, uninhabited and unin- 
habitable. There is not a drop of running water between the two rivers, except 
in the two small streams of San Salvador and Santa Gartrudus, and these only 
contain water in the rainy season. Neither of them had running water when 
we passed them. The chaparral commences within forty or hfty miles of the 
Rio Grande. This is poor, rocky, and sandy ; covered with prickly pear, this- 
tles, and almost every sticking thing — constituting a thick and perfectly impen- 
etrable undergrowth. For any useful or agricultural purpose, the country is not 
worth a sous. 

" So far as we were able to form any opinion of this desert upon the other 
routes which had been travelled, its character every where between the two 
rivers, is pretty much the same. We learned that the routes pursued by Gen- 
eral Taylor, south of ours, was through a country similar to that through which 
we passed ; as also was that travelled by Gen. Wool from San Antonio to Pre- 
sidio, on the Rio Grande. From what we both saw and heard, the whole com- 
mand came to the conclusion which I have already expressed — that it was 
worth nothing. I have no hesitation in saying, that I would not hazard the life 
of one valuable and useful man for every toot of land between San Patricio and 
the valley of the Rio Grande. The country is not now and can never be of the 
slightest value" 

Major Gaines has been through this region lately. He is a competent ob- 
server. He is contradicted by nobody. And so far as that country is concern- 
ed, I take it for granted that it is not worth a dollar. 

Now of New Mexico — what of that? Forty-nine fiftieths, at least, of the 
whole of New Mexico, are a barren waste, a desert plain, or mountain, 
with no wood, no timber : little faggots for lighting a fire are carried 30 or 40 
miles on mules ; there is no natural fall of rains there, as in temperate climates. 
It is Asiatic in scenery altogether — enormously high mountains, running up some 
of them 10,000 feet — with narrow valleys at their bases, through which streams 
sometimes trickle along. A strip, a garter winds along, through which runs 
the Rio Grande, from far away up in the Rocky Mountains to latitude thirty- 
three, a distance of three or four hundred miles. There these G0,000 persons 
are. In the mountains on the right and left, are streams which, obeying the 
natural tendency, as laterals, should flow into the Rio Grande, and which, in 
certain seasons, when rains are abundant, do, some of them, actually reach the 
Rio Grande, while the greater part always, and all for the greater part of the 
year, never reach an outlet to the sea, but are absorbed in the sands and desert 
plains of the country. There is no cultivation there. There is cultivation 
where there is artificial watering or irrigation, and no where else. Men can 
live only in the narrow valley, and in the gorges of the mountains which rise 
around it, and not along the course of the streams which lose themselves in 
the sands. 

Now there is no public domain in New Mexico, — not a foot of land, to the 
soil of which we shall obtain title. Not an acre becomes ours when the country 
becomes ours. More than that; the country is full of people, such as l hey 
are. There is not the least thing in it to invite settlement from the fertile val- 



21 

ley of the Mississippi. And I undertake to say tliat there would not be two 
hundred families or persons, who would emigrate from the United States to New 
Mexico, for agricultural purposes, in fifty years. They could not live there. 
Suppose they were to cultivate the lands ; they could only make them product- 
ive in a slight degree by irrigation, or artificial watering. The people there 
produce little, and live on little. That is not the characteristic, I take it, of the 
people of the Eastern or of the Middle States, or of the Valley of the Mis- 
sissippi. They produce a good deal, and they consume a good deal. 

Again, sir, New Mexico is not like Texas. I have hoped and I still hope 
that Texas will be filled up from among ourselves, not with Spaniards ; not 
with peons ; that its inhabitants will not be Mexican landlords, with troops of 
slaves, praedial or otherwise. 

Mr. Rusk here rose and said he disliked to interrupt the Senator, and there- 
fore he had said nothing while he was describing the country between the Nue- 
ces and the Rio Grande ; but he wished now to say that when that country 
comes to be known, it will be found to be as valuable as any part of Texas. 
The valley of the Rio Grande is valuable from its source to its mouth. But he 
did not look upon that as indemnity ; he claimed that as the right of Texas. So 
far as the Mexican population is concerned, there is a good deal of it in Texas ; 
and it comprises many respectable persons, wealthy, intelligent, and distinguish- 
ed. A good many are now moving in from New Mexico, and settling in Texas. 

Mr. Webster. I take what I say, from Major Gaines. But I am glad to 
hear that any part of New Mexico is fit for the foot of civilized man. And I 
am glad, moreover, that there are some persons in New Mexico who are not so 
besotted with their miserable condition as not to make an effort to come out of 
their country, and get into a better. 

Sir, I would, if I had time, call the attention of the Senate to an instructive 
speech made in the other House by Mr. Smith of Connecticut. He seems to 
have examined all the authorities, to have conversed with all the travellers, 
to have corresponded with all our agents. His speech contains all their commu- 
nications ; and I commend it to every man in the United States, who wishes to 
know what we are about to acquire by the annexation of New Mexico. 

New Mexico is secluded, isolated, a place by itself, in the midst and at 
at the foot of vast mountains, five hundred miles from the settled part of Texas, 
and as far from any where else ! It does not belong any where ! It has no be- 
longings about it ! At this moment it is absolutely more retired and shut out 
from communication with the civilized world, than the Sandwich Islands or 
other Islands of the Pacific Sea. In seclusion and remoteness New Mexico 
may press hard on the character and condition of Typee. And its people are 
infinitely less elevated, in morals and in condition, than the people of the Sand- 
wich Islands. We had much better have Senators from Oahu. Far less intel- 
ligent are they than the better class of our Indian neighbors. Commend me to 
the Cherokees — to the Choctaws ; if you please, speak of the Pawnees — 
of the Snakes — the Flatfeet — of anything but the Diggin Indians, and I will 
be satisfied not to take the people of New Mexico. Have they any notion of 
our institutions, or of any free institutions? Have they any notions of pop- 
ular government ? Not the slightest ! Not the slightest on earth ! When the 
question is asked — what will be their constitution ? it is farcical to talk of such 
people making a Constitution for themselves. They do no.t know the meaning 
of the term, they do not know its import. They know nothing at all about it ; 
and I can tell you, sir, that when they are made a Territory and are to be made 
a State, such a Constitution as the Executive power of this government may 
think fit to send them, will be sent and will be adopted. The Constitution of 
our fellow citizens of New Mexico, will be framed in the city of Washington. 



22 

Now what says in regard to all Mexico Col. Hardin, that most lamented and 
distinguished officer, honorably known as a member of the other House, and 
who has fallen gallantly lighting in the service of his country ? Here is his de- 
scription : 

" The whole country is miserably watered. Large districts have no water at 
all. The streams are small, and at great distances apart. One day we marched 
on the road from Monclova to Parras, thirty-Jive miles, without ivater — a pretty 
severe day's march for infantry. 

" Grass is very scarce, and indeed there is none at all in many regions for 
miles square. Its place is supplied with prickly pear and thorny bushes. 
There is not one acre in two hundred, more probably not one in five hundred, 
of all the land we have seen in Mexico, which can ever be cultivated ; the 
greater portion of it is the most desolate region I could ever have imagined. 
The pure granite hills of New England are a paradise to it, for they are Avith- 
out the thorny briars and venomous reptiles which infest the barbed barrenness 
of Mexico. The good land and cultivated spots in Mexico are but dots on 
the map. Were it not that it takes so very little to support a Mexican, and 
the land which is cultivated yields its produce with little labor, it would be sur- 
prising how its sparse population is sustained. All the towns we have visited, 
with perhaps the exception of Parras, are depopulating, as is also the whole 
country. 

" The people are on a par with their land. One in 200 or 500 is rich, and 
lives like a nabob ; the rest are peons, or servants sold for debt, who work for 
their masters, and are as subservient as the slaves of the South, and look like 
Indians, and, indeed, are not more capable of self-government. One man, Ja- 
cobus Sanchez, owns three-fourths of all the land our column has passed over in 
Mexico. We are told we have seen the best part of Northern Mexico ; if so, 
the whole of it is not worth much. 

" I came to Mexico in favor of getting or taking enough of it to pay the ex- 
penses of the war- I now doubt whether all Northern Mexico is worth the ex- 
penses of our column of 3000 men. The expenses of the war must be enor- 
mous ; we have paid enormous prices for every thing ; much beyond the usual 
prices of the country." 

There it is. That's all North Mexico ; and New Mexico is not the better 
part of it. 

Sir, there is a recent traveller, not unfriendly to the United States, if we 
may judge from his work, for he commends us every where, I think an Eng- 
lishman, named Ruxton. He gives an account of the morals and the man- 
ners of the population of New Mexico. And, Mr. President and Senators, I 
shall take leave to introduce you to these soon to be your respected fellovj cit- 
izens of New Mexico : 

" It is remarkable that, although existing from the eaidiest times of the col- 
onization of New Mexico, a period of two centuries, in a state of continual hos- 
tility with the numerous savage tribes of Indians who surround their territory, 
and in constant insecurity of life and property from their attacks; being also far 
removed from the enervating influences of large cities, and, in their isolated sit- 
uation entirely dependent upon their own resources, the inhabitants are totally 
destitute of those qualities which, for the above reasons, we might naturally have 
expected to distinguish them, and are as deficient in energy of character and 
physical courage, as they are in all the moral and intellectual qualities. In 
their social state but one degree removed from the veriest savages, they might 
take a lesson even from these in morality and the conventional decencies of 
life Imposing no restraint on their passions, a shameless and universal con- 
cubinage exists, and a total disregard of morals, to which it would be impossi- 



23 

ble to find a parallel in any country calling itself civilized. A want of honora- 
ble principle, and consummate duplicity and treachery, characterize all their 
dealings. Liars by nature, they are treacherous and faithless to their friends, 
cowardly and cringing to their enemies ; cruel, as all cowards are, they unite 
savage ferocity with their want of animal courage ; as an example of which, 
their recent massacre of Gov. Bent, and other Americans, may be given, — one 
of an hundred instances." 

These, sir, are soon to be our beloved countrymen ! 

Mr. President, for a good many years I have straggled in opposition to every 
thing which I thought tended to strengthen the arm of Executive power. I 
think it is growing more and more formidable every day. And I think that by 
yielding to it in this, as in other instances, we give it a strength which it will 
be difficult hereafter to resist. I think that it is nothing less than the fear of 
Executive power, which induces us to acquiesce in the acquisition of territory, 
— fear, fear, and nothing else. 

In the little part which I have acted in public life, it has been my purpose 
to preserve the people of the United States, what the Constitution designed to 
make them, one people, one in interest, one in character, and one in polit- 
ical feeling. We now seem disposed to depart from that, and to break it all 
up. What sympathy can there be between the people of Mexico and California 
and the inhabitants of the Valley of the Mississippi and the Eastern States, in 
the choice of a President ? Do they know the same man ? Do they concur in 
any general constitutional principles ? Not at all. 

Arbitrary governments may have territories, and distant possessions, be- 
cause arbitrary governments may rule them by different laws and different sys- 
tems. Russia may rule the Ukraine and the provinces of the Caucasus and 
Kamschatka, by different codes, ordinances, or ukases. 

"We can do no such thing. They must be of us, part of us, or else strang- 
ers. 

I think I see that in progress, which will disfigure and deform the Constitu- 
tion. While these territories remain territories, they will be a trouble and an 
annoyance. They will draw after them vast expenses. They will probably re- 
quire as many troops as we have maintained during the last twenty years, to de- 
fend them against the Indian tribes. We must maintain an army at that im- 
mense distance. When they shall become states, they will be still more likely 
to give us trouble. 

I think I see a course adopted which is likely to turn the Constitution of the 
land into a deformed monster, into a curse rather than a blessing; in fact, a 
frame of an unequal government, not founded on popular representation, not 
founded on equality, but on the grossest inequality. And I think it will go on, 
or that there is danger that it will go on, until this Union shall fall to pieces. 

I resist it — to-day and always ! Whoever falters, or whoever flies, I continue 
the contest ! 

I know, sir, that all the portents are discouraging. Would to God I could 
auspicate good influences. Would to God that those who think with me, and 
myself, could hope for stronger support. Would we could stand where we de- 
sire to stand. I see the signs are sinister. But with few, or alone, my posi- 
tion is fixed ! If there were time I would gladly awaken the country. I be- 
lieve the country might be awakened; but it may be too late. But supported 
or unsupported, by the blessing of God, I shall do my duty. I see well enough 
all the adverse indications. But I am sustained by a deep and a conscientious 
sense of duty. And while supported by that feeling, and while such great inter- 
ests are at stake, I defy auguries, and ask no omen but my country's cause ! 



NOTE. 



The following resolutions have been passed by the Legislature of Massachu- 
setts, generally, it is believed, without distinction of political party, against the 
annexation of Texas, or the creation of new States out of other foreign territory; 
viz. 

1838. March 16th. — "Resolved, That we, the Senate and House] of Rep- 
resentatives, in Genei'al Court assembled, do, in the name of the people of 
Massachusetts, earnestly and solemnly protest against the incorporation of Texas 
into this Union, and declare that no act done, or compact made, for such pur- 
pose, by the Government of the United States, will be binding on the States or 
the People." 

1843, March 16th. — "Resolved, That under no circumstances whatsoever 
can the people of Massachusetts regard the proposition to admit Texas into the 
Union in any other light, than as dangerous to its continuance in peace, in pros- 
perity, and in the enjoyment of those blessings which it is the object of a free 
government to secure." 

1844, March 15th. — "Resolved, That the power to unite an independent 
foreign State with the United States, is not among the powers delegated to the 
General Government by the Constitution of the United States." 

1845, Feb. 22d. — " Resolved, That Massachusetts has never delegated the 
power to admit into the Union, States or Territories without or beyond the orig- 
inal territory of the States and Territories belonging to the Union at the adop- 
tion of the Constitution of the United States, and that, in whatever manner the 
consent of Massachusetts may have been given, or inferred, to the admission of 
the States already by general consent forming part of the Union, from such ter- 
ritory, the admission of such States, in the judgment of Massachusetts, forms no 
precedent for the admission of Texas, and can never be interpreted to rest on 
powers granted in the Constitution." 

1845, March. — "Resolved, That Massachusetts hereby refuses to acknowl- 
edge the act of the Government of the United States, authorizing the admission 
of Texas, as a legal act, in any way binding her from using her utmost exer- 
tions in co-operation with other States, by every lawful and constitutional mea- 
sure, to annul its conditions and defeat its accomplishment." 

" Resolved, That the annexation of a large slaveholding territory, at the will 
of the Government of the United States, with the declared intention of giving 
strength to the institution of domestic slavery in these States, is an alarm- 
ing encroachment upon the rights of the freemen of the Union, a perversion of 
the principles of republican government, a deliberate assault upon the compro- 
mises of the Constitution, and demands the strenuous, united and persevering 
opposition of all persons, without distinction, who claim to be the friends of hu- 
man liberty." 

1847, Feb. — "Resolved, unanimously, That the people of Massachusetts 
will strenuously resist the annexation of any new territory to this Union in which 
the institution of slavery is to be tolerated or established ; and the Legislature, 
in behalf of the people of this Commonwealth, do hereby solemnly protest 
against the acquisition of any additional territory, without an express provision 
by Congress, that there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in 
such territory, otherwise than for the punishment of crime." 

1847, April 26th. — "Resolved, That the annexation of territory with Mexi- 
can population upon it, is highly inconsistent with the well-being of this Union." 







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